Paramedic: On The Front Lines of Medicine by Peter Canning, page 107 has motivated me once again to point out an important message. Peter is speaking about a call he and his partner Glenn were dispatched to at a nursing home for a female with third-degree heart block, who is for the most part asymptomatic, pulse 34 and nurses state she is bedridden and her normal state of mind is one of confusion and do not think she has heart problems in her history.
The Pt becomes combative with Peter as he tries to start an IV and Glenn attempts to offer her oxygen. Peter is frustrated because she won’t allow the IV to happen and he yells at her “Jesus Christ!” as she jerks her hand away once he had finally placed the IV yanking it from her vein. Peter feels bad for yelling at the woman and apologizes.
He then begins reflecting on how he feels while transporting the elderly. “Sometimes when I’m transporting an elderly male, I look down at him on the stretcher and imagine myself there in another forty years looking up to the eyes of a faceless EMT. Neither of us speaks.” Canning P. 107
My point here is to remain calm and understanding, two of the best things you can do when caring for patients. Think of yourself in their situation and how would you feel if you had a cold EMT/Paramedic working on you. Think of your children, sisters, brothers, parents, grandparents…how would you want EMT/Paramedics to treat them?
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